History

The East Ithaca Depot
The building AGAVA resides in was known as the East Ithaca Railroad Depot, built as part of Ezra’s investment in 1876. The Depot was a stop on the Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railway Line. Ezra wanted a station as close to campus as possible to make travel to this remote campus easy on faculty, and students. The original location was down the street at the current Coal Café and Coal Apartments on Maple Avenue.

During the 1850s and 60s, railroads were booming in the United States. The Ithaca and Owego Railroad had opened in 1834, but it was more of a horse drawn trolley on wood planks than a steel rail locomotive line. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that Ezra Cornell used an estimated $2 million of his own fortune to put Ithaca on the railroad map. Ezra recognized that the railways would help not only secure future trade but also provide travel facilities for members of the University he was in the process of forming.

Today the only active line is a train that runs from Gang Mills yard (west of Corning) over the ex-Erie to Waverly line and then up the Ithaca & Athens line to Ithaca & Cayuga Lake. Cargill and NYSEG account for most of the car loads

Looking East with trolley tracks on Maple Avenue in the foreground.

Ezra’s Train Line:

Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad. First Train out over Deep Gorge between Van Etten and Horseheads, November 11, 1873. Ezra Cornell, wearing top hat, has one foot on timber guard.

Reference
The History Center
Winton G Rossiter and John Marcham: “History of Railroads in Tompkins County”